Vice President Mike Pence promoted the new Trump administration tax overhaul plan Thursday afternoon in Waukesha.
The vice president toured Weldall Manufacturing, a manufacturing company, that says it’s added 40 percent more employees this year. Pence said President Donald Trump’s proposal to lower individual and business tax rates, simplify the tax code, and make other changes would be on top of recent state tax cuts in Wisconsin.
Vice President Mike Pence arrives at the 128th Refueling Wing in Milwaukee on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017. Chuck Quirmbach/WPR
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“The bottom line is … tax cuts create jobs, tax cuts create growth. It’s worked here in Wisconsin, and it’s going to work across the United States of America,” Pence said.
Gov. Scott Walker joined Pence in touting Trump’s tax overhaul proposal. Pence met with factory workers and business owners in Waukesha and said part of the package would simplify the tax code.
“I heard a lot of people talking about how much you would welcome tax simplification. If the president’s tax cut plan goes through, 90 percent of people will be able to file your taxes on one sheet of paper,” Pence said.
The plan would reduce the number of individual tax brackets from seven to three, Pence said.
Democrats are swinging back at the tax overhaul plan.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party responded to Pence’s claims Thursday. Party Chairwoman Martha Laning said Pence and Walker were peddling “a national tax cut for the rich and big corporations that was crafted by former Wall Street insiders.”
Milwaukee-based Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki said the plan is a sham.
“You have administration officials running around the country talking about how eliminating the estate tax is going to rain down benefits on small business around the country. Fewer than 6,000 estates are affected by that tax each year.”
Zepecki said the Republican plan would benefit the wealthy at the expense of others.
The Democratic National Committee says the GOP tax plan would benefit giant corporations and the richest 1 percent of Americans at the expense of everyone else.
Later on Thursday, Pence spoke at a Republican fundraiser in Milwaukee that benefits a Trump re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Editor’s Note: This story was last updated at 8:49 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017.
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